Science

A Colorado inmate involved in the culling of poultry at a farm as part of a pre-release program has the first human case of avian flu in the United States. Here, cage-free chickens walk in a fenced pasture at an organic farm near Waukon, Iowa, in October

The first human case of avian flu in the U.S. is reported in Colorado

4:02pm April 29, 2022

by Rina Torchinsky

The patient, an inmate in a pre-release program, was involved in culling poultry presumptively infected with H5N1 bird flu at a farm. The virus, while deadly for birds, poses a low risk to humans.

Oyster harvester Johny Jurisich empties a dredge filled with oysters onto his boat near Texas City, Texas.

Oyster reefs in Texas are disappearing. Fishermen there fear their jobs will too

11:31am April 29, 2022

by Katie Watkins

Texas closed most public oyster reefs for harvesting, dealing a blow to the fishing industry. "It's taken a big toll on me," says Johny Jurisich, whose family has worked in the business for decades.

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A border collie in northern England chases after a flock of sheep to herd them. A new study finds that only about 9% of the variation in an individual dog's behavior can be explained by its breed.

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Your dog is a good boy, but that's not necessarily because of its breed

7:41pm April 28, 2022

by Becky Sullivan

A new study based on thousands of DNA sequences and owner surveys finds that less than 10% of a dog's behavior — like howling, herding or retrieving — can be explained by its breed.

Is sucking carbon from the air the key to stop climate change? Some scientists say so

5:27pm April 28, 2022

by Lauren Sommer

With the climate getting hotter, scientists are finding that cutting fossil fuels may not be enough. Carbon dioxide emissions may need to be vacuumed right out of the air.

Moderna says its vaccine appears to be about 51 percent effective for children ages 6 months to less than 2 years, and 37 percent effective for those ages 2 to less than 6 years.

Moderna asks FDA to authorize first COVID-19 vaccine for very young children

7:00am April 28, 2022

by Rob Stein

The company says a low-dose version of its vaccine triggers an immune response in children ages 6 months to less than 6 years equivalent to what has protected older children and adults.

Rapid tests are effective in detecting BA.2, but the high infectivity of the subvariant means it could jump from person to person before a positive result is detected.

Can we trust rapid COVID tests against BA.2? This is what the experts say

5:00am April 27, 2022

With the BA.2 subvariant of omicron pushing infection rates up, many are reaching for at-home rapid tests. Here's what experts say on how best to use them.

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New research finds that previous studies of mental illness using brain scans may be too small for the results to be reliable.

Brain scans may reveal a lot about mental illness, but not until studies get bigger

5:01am April 26, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Scientists are using MRI scans to understand how mental illness shows up in the bran. But new research raises concerns that existing studies are not reliable because the sample sizes are too small.

Health care workers during a strike in Palo Alto, Calif., on Monday. About 5,000 nurses at Stanford and Packard Children's Hospital began a strike Monday over a fight for what they describe as fair contracts.

Thousands of nurses at Stanford hospitals are striking over wages and mental health

9:32pm April 25, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The labor union representing the nearly 5,000 striking nurses says 93% of staff voted to authorize the strike, which does not have an end date.

Brain scan studies need to get much bigger to offer insight into mental illness

5:06pm April 25, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

Researchers say most brain scan studies are too small to explain complex human traits like intelligence or mental health. Meaningful insights will require studies of thousands of brains, not dozens.

Science

MIT researchers confirm that it's hard to split the filling evenly in an Oreo

6:12am April 25, 2022

Twist apart an Oreo and the creme filling usually ends up mostly on one side. Researchers concluded there's no secret. The production process makes it almost impossible to split the filling evenly.

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